A/N

Oh dear me. Well, first of all thanks for the support it means a lot. I would have posted this a lot earlier because I know that many of you enjoy it - I do not see why - but a virus got into my computer and literally wiped everything I had ever written. I lost 30 pages of Marauders story lines including very important threads about the Order, Lily and James death, Harry, Remus and Sirius growing suspicious of each other... Everything just gone. And I am incredibly upset by it because it was a lot of work.

Anyway, I'll stop my boo-hooing, here is a new chapter. Sorry it's shorter than usual but even my windows programs have gone so I have to make do with a stupid notepad with no frigging word count. URGH!

I'll hopefully see you guys shortly.

Lily knew exactly what they had been up to last night. She wasn't stupid. So after charms class she proceeded to the Gryffindor Common room, an angry looking Snape following her as she did so. She climbed in, leaving him outside and went up to the boys dormitories. There they were. All fast asleep. Sirius was sprawled across his bed, face first on his pillow, his black hair covering most of his face. James was hanging off the side of his bed, his right arm and leg dangling over the side. Remus was the wrong way around, his feet resting on the pillow. And Peter, well poor Peter hadn't even reached the bed. He had decided it would be more fun to sleep on the cold stone floor. Lily sighed knowing that this was not a job to be taken alone. She ran back down to the common room and dragged Gideon and Fabian away from their game of exploding snap though they were supposed to be in Transfiguration. She led them up to the dormitory and let them have free reign on the four boys.

Gideon attempted to yank James from the bed but it didn't work. So Fabian pulled him away and waved his wand. James ascended five foot into the air and hovered quite comfortably there for a moment before Fabian waved his wand again and James toppled onto the bed. He jumped awake and looked around before grabbing his head and leaning back.

"Ow," He muttered.

"Get up," Lily said simply, moving towards Remus and grabbing the sheets from under him and yanking on them, sending Remus tumbling to the floor. He looked up beadily as Gideon and Fabian began to tug Sirius from his bed.

"NO!" He said. "I'm not moving from here until someone brings me a bacon sandwich."

Lily sighed and leaned down, tucking a lock of red hair behind her ear and whispering to Sirius face. Sirius shot up in a second.

"THEY WHAT?" He bellowed. He then realised this was a stupid thing to do and he held his head.

"What did they do?" Remus asked, getting up and blinking miserably.

"It was a lie wasn't it?" Sirius asked, ignoring Remus. "It was a ruse. A thing to get me up."

"No," Lily said simply. "The house-elves have really gone on strike. We have to eat muggle food for the next few weeks whilst the Trade Unions act kicks in."

Sirius was out of bed and pulling on his socks. "Just wait," He was muttering. "Just you wait. I'll make them see sense."

Lily turned to see Gideon and Fabian pulling at Peter's legs. He was clinging to the four poster bed desperately. Lily went and plucked a goose feather from his pillow and tickled Peter's nose with it. He gave a sneeze and in doing so let go of the bed.

"Up, now," Lily said stepping over him. "Now, Potter, otherwise McGonagall will have a field day."

"Shit," Gideon said. "Transfiguration."

"Craptastic." Fabian said, sighing. "We have to go." He gave Peter one last kick before heading off.

Lily folded her arms as the boys begrudgingly got up and began to undress from their clothes from the night before. Sirius cleared his throat.

"Could you please leave?" He asked.

"No," Lily said. "How am I supposed to know if you guys just go back to bed?"

"I think the no-appearance thing might be a heads up." Remus said.

"Don't wise-ass, Remus," Lily said folding her arms.

"Sorry," He said.

"Don't worry, Evans'," James said. "Remus would curse us to high heaven if we dared fall asleep again."

Lily looked between the four boys and sighed. "You have ten minutes," She said, before leaving. James watched her for a moment before falling back onto his bed with a loud groan.

"I am never going to drink again," He declared in a muffled voice.

"You said that about a lot of things," Sirius grunted, yanking on his jumper. "You still do most of them."

James looked around. "I mean it. If this is what it's like to be hungover."

"Lightweight," Peter muttered. "You had one tankard."

"Yes, and I'm sure you could hold your ale better than most." Sirius said. "How the hell are you managing it?" He turned to look at Remus who was pulling on his shoes, almost completely dressed in his school robes.

"I have a shit immune system and I'm a werewolf. I'm used to being sick," Remus shrugged. "Ready?"

"No," Peter grunted in reply. "I'll never be ready. I think I'm gonna throw up."

"Beautiful, Pete," James said knotting his tie. He frowned looked at it, sighed and tried again before turning to Sirius. "Help here." He said.

Sirius didn't look over but flicked his wand and James' tie began to knot itself.

"Never again," James repeated as all four of them trudged from the dormitory to the common room where Lily was waiting for them.

"I know where you were last night," She said in a strict voice.

"Where?" James asked casually.

"You were out of the school probably on forbidden grounds. Again," Lily said.

"Ah, but you don't know for sure?" Sirius said.

"Shut up Black. One word to McGonagall and I'll have you out of this school before you can say Quidditch." Lily said.

"I like Quidditch," James said absentmindedly.

...

James and Sirius were huddled under the invisibility cloak, their wands outstretched before them illuminating the crudely drawn map that they had made over the last few weeks. It wasn't as intricate as they would have liked it, but it included the tunnel to Hogsmede that they had found, They were tailing Filch who was about five feet in front of them. For the last few days they had been tailing him, trying to work out where he spent most time. If he spent more time at a particular area then that meant there was something there that he didn't want any of the students to know about. Remus thought it was a genius idea but had decline to come along tonight because of an excessive work load. Peter... Well they had no idea where Peter was, they assumed that he would be hanging around the common room trying to finish his Potions essay.

James stopped suddenly. Sirius almost tripped over.

"What did you do that for?" He hissed.

"Filch has stopped." James replied, looking ahead. Sirius looked around and saw Filch staring at one of the paintings.

He gave a loud grunt. "Come on Mrs Norris," He said, his cat merely looked up to him and followed as they carried on down the corridor. James waited until Filch had turned a corner before taking the cloak off and looking around.

"You reckon there's something here?" Sirius asked, looking up at the pictures.

"I don't know," James said. He reached forward and touched the canvas. The picture spoke clearly to them.

"You are not permitted to enter here." She said.

"Where is here?" Sirius challenged.

"That is for you to find out," The painting replied.

"Ah, but if we are not permitted to enter, then there is no way we can ever find out," James said. "What is the deal with that?"

The painting looked at them for a moment, then bowed her head swung open and let them enter. Behind the painting was a long corridor that led to a tiny room with a grate at eye level. Sirius and James looked around confused.

"What the hell is this place?" James asked.

"Dunno," Sirius replied. He looked up at the grate then carefully, getting up onto the stone ledge looked out. "SHIT, JAMES LOOK!"

James got up beside him moving the bust of a man away from his foot. He looked out and saw a large room with green drapage and expensive looking rugs and furniture. Lounging on one of the armchairs was a haughty looking sandy-haired boy. Regulus was sitting on another armchair, his feet up. Malfoy and Narcissa were lounging on the larger sofa, their hands intertwined.

"That's the infamous Slytherin Common room is it?" James said. "Who is that?" He pointed at the sandy haired boy.

"I dunno," Sirius said. "But he looks familiar. I think Regulus has invited him around sometimes. I think... I could be wrong. it could have been someone else."

"Useful, Sirius," James said.

"Do you think they know about this?" Sirius asked.

"Doubt it," James shifted the bust a little further and there was the sound of a stone moving. Their heads whipped around and saw the wall moving away from them. Malfoy, Narcissa, Regulus and the sandy-haired boy looked around. But luckily, Snape had entered the common room and refocused their attention on him. James let out a shaky breath and pushed open the stone. Sirius held his wand aloft to reveal a set of stairs that led up somewhere. He licked his lips.

"Where do you think it goes?" He asked.

James shrugged, unsure. He stepped gingerly on one of the stairs and after making sure that it was perfectly safe, they began the slow ascendent. After about ten minutes of climbing they came to a stop at a dead end. Sirius looked around trying to find an incantation to open it.

"Nothing?" James said.

"Shit all, man," Sirius replied. He turned to look and see if there was anything written on the walls. "Think we should get Moony?"

"Mm." James pulled out his mirror and called out. "Oi! Moony!"

Something in the reflection moved and Remus' tired face came into view on the silver base.

"Where are you?" He asked, noticing their black surroundings.

"We don't exactly know, there was this awesome room that led to the Slytherin common room and we've found a set of stairs leading away from there but there's a dead end, and we can't figure out if it leads somewhere or not," Sirius said, pushing James to the side and taking the mirror from him.

"Try, bombarda maxima," Remus suggested.

"Try bombarda Maxima," Sirius said, James gave him a look.

"I'm not deaf!" He said aiming his wand at the wall. He gave it a sharp flick and said the incantation. The wall remained motionless though it did give a little shudder. Sirius looked back at the mirror.

"Nothing's happening, Moony," He said.

Moony pursed his lips. Someone was talking to him and he looked around vaguely, his eyes flickering. He then turned back to them. "Have you looked on the ceiling or indeed under your feet?"

"Why on earth would we do that?" James asked.

"If the first room lead you to the dungeons where the Slytherin Common room is," Remus said. "And the stairs led you up, there hasn't been any clues at eye level."

"Doesn't make sense," James grunted.

"Just look down," Remus said.

Sirius shown his wand down and frowned. "Nothing," He said.

"Then try up," Remus suggested.

Sirius sighed and looked up. "Nothing here too man,"

Remus was fowning slightly. "So there is absolutely nothing around you?"

"Well, there's a tiny window, but it's no bigger than a book." James replied.

"One of my books, or one of Peter's?" Remus asked.

A loud "Oi!" came from behind Remus and he smiled slightly. Sirius looked over at the window. "One of your books." He said.

"Right," Remus was frowning. "Does it have a ledge?"

"No," James replied. "Oh wait..." He held his wand aloft and saw a small ledge just under the window. He ran his fingers across it. "It's bumpy," he stated.

"Really?" Remus said absentmindedly. "Does it say anything?"

James turned to Sirius. "Does it say anything?"

Sirius rolled his eyes and looked over it. "Yeah,"

"Well what?" James said.

"I dunno," Sirius replied. "Something in Latin!"

"Read it out," Remus suggested.

"I don't know how to read Latin!" Sirius said.

"Easy, V sounds like a W, and pronounce each vowel seperately," Remus said.

"It can't be as easy as that," James said.

"It is," Remus replied.

Sirius cleared his throat. "Open ostendere sidera,"

"Open to show the stars?" Remus asked, translating quickly.

The stone began to shake and move out of the way. Sirius pushed it so that he and James could get past.

"Can I go now?" He asked.

Sirius looked back at the mirror. "Oh, yeah, you can go."

"Thank you," Remus turned away and the mirror reflection went black.

James had stepped out into a blistering cold November air. They looked out and saw a large open courtyard. Sparkling stars just dipping from the clouds. Sirius went over to the edge and looked down.

"Cool," He said.

"This is it?" James asked.

"Well, yeah," Sirius replied. "I think."

"Bit of an anti-climax." James said.

"Well, when you get your girlfriend, and get laid up here, then you can call it boring," Sirius said.

"Mm..." James said.

"'Mm...' what?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing," James said, his hand running across an inscription in the stone. "Who's RR and GG?" He asked.

"No idea," Sirius replied. "Kids with damn unlucky names."

"Makes sense," James shrugged.

Sirius sighed, getting bored.

"Can we go now?" He asked.

James was too busy looking at the inscription. "Er... Yeah, sure."

...

"You want to make a map?" Remus asked.

"Yeah," Sirius replied.

"Why on earth do you want to make a map? Of the school?"

"Well not just a map," James said.

"What?" Peter asked.

"I mean, we have the map and it like shows every other person in the school... Where they are, what they're doing..." James was saying excitedly.

"Don't you already have other projects you should be working on?" Remus asked lightly. "Like homework."

"Well, no," James replied. "I have you to do that for me, and the other thing that we're doing, well, we're so close to succeeding... I don't know why they bother to ask for licenses first!"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Do what you want."

"Thanks, but we weren't asking for permission," Sirius said, swinging his legs around the bed. Frank was snoring gently and Mithradates hadn't come back from his one on one tutorials with his teachers.

"So how should we do it?" Peter asked.

Sirius shrugged. "Dunno, Moony?"

Remus looked up from his book. "Hm?" He asked.

"How do we go about making a map?"

"Basic intuition leads me to deduce that you have to read Hogwarts, A History," He said.

"Why?" James asked.

"Because it gives the position of each classroom and it's history." Remus said. "I know you've never read a book in your life, but it's a good place to start."

"Only you can get away with insulting us," Sirius said sighing.

"Oh, really?" Remus asked mildly. "How so?"

"Because you could rip us to shreds if you wanted to." James said.

"Mm. Only on the full moon," Remus replied.

"No, you could practically rip us to shreds even if it wasn't the full moon." Sirius gave a grin.

"I'd like to think so," Remus said disappearing behind his book.

"Come on, I'll duel ya!" Sirius said leaping to his feet.

"No," Remus replied.

"Come on!"

"No."

"Peter?" Sirius turned to look at Peter.

"No,"

"Why not?"

"Because you're better at spells than me and well... I don't want to end up hanging from the drapes with only my underwear on." Peter said simply.

"Trust me," James said. "I don't want to see you with only your underwear on!"

Peter threw a pillow at James. Sirius burst out laughing. "Well done Pete."

"He didn't throw it at me," James said fuming slightly. "I just accioed it and it hit my face."

"Bullshit," Sirius said.

"It's true." James said earnestly.

"As if," Sirius said. "You're just a big girl."

"Then why would I be sorted into the greatest house of all time?" James asked.

"Well, did you ask the sorting hat to be placed in Gryffindor?" Sirius asked.

James frowned, pretending to think. "No. I can't recall doing that."

"Shame," Sirius said. "You would make an excellent Hufflepuff,"

"You're a Hufflepuff!" James replied.

"Nah," Sirius leaned back. "I'm just awesome."

James let out a cough. Sirius threw a pillow at him.

"Did you just accio that pillow too, James?" Remus asked.

"Shut up," James muttered rubbing his nose.